Drip candle



L. F. WILSON` March 15, 1949.

DR I P CANDLE Filed March 15, 1945 TTOP/vfr Patented Mar. 15, 1949 sPATENT oFF-rc1:

y Dal? CANDLE Lester F. Wilson, sancabriel, Calif, Application March 13,194,5', :SerialV No.. 582,572

This invention has for its lgeneral object to provide a Lnovelanddistinctivelyunique drip candl'jcharacterizedfby 'its ability toVform multicolored'drippings notwithstanding the fact that to alloutward indications, and even upon closest inspection, the candle mayappear the Ysame as anyordinary candle, the drippings from whichcorrespond to the color of the candle.

.'fheiusual drip candle is of course made of a waxorbody material, thecolor of which determines the colorof the vdrippings, since the latterform Afrom melting of'thewax and'its solidicationinto drippingswhichcontain whatever colorimgjma'terial that may be used to color the bodyoifthefjcandle. Thus the ordinary drip candle producesdrippingscoloredcorresponding to thev normaloutside coloringof thecandle, and usuallythedrippings, like the body of the candle, are

, of a single color.

One of my major purposes is to provide a candle the drippings of whichmay not only be at any. selected variance with the outside coloring ofthe candle, but also may be multi-colored, so that different individualdrippings may have any desired individual colors.

Another object of the invention is to permit thei coloring of thedrippings to bepredetermined "and controlled independently of the coloror composition of the wax body of the candle. In this respect theinvention contemplates coloring of the drippings by suitable coloringmaterial carried by the candle wick, all in a manner such thatprogressive burning of the candle produces drippings of any desiredcolor or color combinations.

For the purposes of the invention I may use candles of any desired bodyor wax composition. Preferably I employ body wax compositions used inthe well-known types of drip candles, characterized by the relativelylarge proportion of the wax carry-over as drippings, instead of burningat the flame. In the broad aspects of the invention, the body ofthecandle, or its exterior, may be colored as desired. It is foundparticularly advantageous to give the candle a single body or exteriorcolor selected for whatever contrast desired between the normal color ofthe candle and the color or colors of the drippings. A candle of whiteexterior or White body is highly effective because of its greater andclearer color contrast with colored drippings. In this connection it maybe mentioned that as interpreted for the purposes of this invention,white is to be regarded as a. color.

l As previously indicated, the drip coloring material preferably isapplied to or incorporated in the wick, all ina manner such that thecandle mayv to all' appearances resemble the ordinary candle. As thecandle burns, the formation of colored or multi-colored drippings incontrast Iwith ,the ,apparent coloring of the candle, is both verysurprising and highly decorative.

In accordance with my ,preferred practice and embodiment of theinvention, I impregnate the candle wick with any suitable coloringmaterial,

,stain or dye, selected in keeping with the predetermined coloring ofthe drippingsto'be formed.

green, orangered, violet, etc. The sequence in the wick of theparticular colors used may be selected for the most pleasing coloreiects in the successive formation and superposing of the drippings.

In orderto prevent interblending of successive coloring materialscarriedby the wick and at the .transition from one, to the next color asthe canjdle burns, the impregnated or coated lengths of the wick may bespaced apart. My preferred procedure is rst to coat, orA impregnatesuccessive spacedlengthsof the Wick `with wax or other materialpreventing blending together of the dyes, and to impregnate theintervening uncoated lengths with the dyes. The wax-coated anddyeimpregnated sections of the wick may have any desired lengths,typically in an average size candle, around one-half inch, which may beincreased or decreased in accordance with the desired number andfrequency of colored drippings to be formed. `The wax body of the candlethen is formed by any of the usual methods about the prepared wick.

As a further observation, it will be noted that spacing apart ofsuccessive color-impregnated sections of the wick results in theformation, While the wick is burning between those sections,

of drippings having the color of the candle wax,-

which may add to the ydesired eiects by the alternate superposing ofsuch drippings lon the wick-colored drippings.

The invention is further illustrated and described in connection withthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view of the candle With the wick and impregnatedsections appearing in dotted lines; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectionalview of the candle.

The candle is shown to comprise a Wax body I which may have the usualwax composition adapted to form a profusion of drippings as the candleburns, the body typically being built by successive clippings of theWick H in a melted body of the wax. Spaced segments l2 of the wick maybe impregnated with a suitable material, such as a relatively highmelting point Wax, as and for the purposes previously described. Betweenthese segments l2, the wax segments I3 may be impregnated with thesuitable Wax soluble dyes in whatever color sequence desired. Thus asthe candle burns, the die carried by the wick segments I3 dissolves inthe melted body wax, coloring the drippings overflowing down the side ofthe candle. The drippings formed as a result of extended burning of thecandle, thus present arprofusion of colors (preferably against thebackground of a White body Wax) with highly ornamental and decorativeeiect.

It is desirable that in the application of dyes to successive lengths orsections of the wick, provision be made for preventing the dies fromrunning or being drawn by capillarity longitudinally of the Wick beyondthe particular section to carry the coloring. For this purpose means isprovided for physically stabilizing or conning each individual die toits particular Wick section. By

Vincorporating the dye in a relatively high melting point Wax andapplying the resulting melted mixture to the wick, the dye iseffectively confined upon solidication of the wax. The wax may havesuiciently high melting temperature that when the Wick is dipped in themelted wax to form the body of the candle, the color-containing wax willnot melt or soften su'iciently to spread longitudinally of the wick, butwill remain in andcondition such that it will not run or will not be 4displaced by the wick capillarity during the candle dipping operation.

I claim:

l. A drip candle comprising a wax-like body. different wax-soluble dyesnormally concealed within the interior of the body at differentlocations longitudinally thereof and normally undissolved in the wax ofsaid body, said dyes dissolving in the melted Wax of the body to formmulti-colored drippings as the candle progressively burns.

2. A drip candle having a wax body and a wick containing a coloringmaterial which dissolves in the Wax as the candle burnsv to formdripplngs colored dilerent from the normal exterior color of the candle.

3. A drip candle having a Wax body and a wick containing diierentcoloring materials which dissolve in the Wax as the candle burns to formmulti-colored drippings.

4. A drip candle having a Wax body .and a. wick, spaced successiveportions of which are impregnated with coloring material which dissolvesin the wax as the candle progressively b urns to color the drippingsdiierently from the exterior color of the candle.

5. A drip candle having a Wax body and a Wick, successive portions ofthe Wick being impregnated with different colored dyes which dissolve inthe wax to produce multi-colored drippings as the candle progressivelyburns.

6. A drip candle having a Wax body and a wick, successive portions ofwhich are impregnated alternately with wax and diierent colored dyeswhich dissolve in the Wax to produce multicolored drippings kas thecandle progressively burns.

LESTER F. WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,701,344 Funke Feb. 12, 19291,908,044 Nelson May 9, 1933

